


unlike this pizza, you can't be topped

by jeolmeoniji



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, Bad Flirting, First Meeting, M/M, now avalaible in russian too!, really self indulgent listen i wrote it as a birthday present for myself, renhyuck usual bickering also known as Flirting, renjun's anti eyebrow piercing you're welcome, that send me your cutest delivery guy trope but make it renhyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24218404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeolmeoniji/pseuds/jeolmeoniji
Summary: The delivery guy tilts his head, and something under his eyes shines. Donghyuck almost chokes on nothing. Is that– is that a fucking anti eyebrow piercing he's sporting?Cheek piercing guy slash cute pizza delivery boy slash potential Donghyuck's early death opens his mouth to ask monotonously:“Large traditional pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni, for Lee Donghyuck?”
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan
Comments: 13
Kudos: 211





	unlike this pizza, you can't be topped

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the bad pun title
> 
> [russian translation here!](https://t.co/9JU1ifa2V9?amp=1) (thank you for liking my work to the point of wanting to translate it to share it!)

Donghyuck likes to take risks, sometimes.

An all nighter to finish a paper worth half his grade, that his lecturer told they wouldn't be able to do in a few hours before the deadline? Donghyuck hasn't listened to this kind of warning throughout his whole education, and it's not in his third year of university that someone will change him.

(He _has_ finished the paper on time, and he did pass the class. Was he proud of what he handed? Maybe, maybe not. After all, after the fifth energy drink, and when it feels like the ticking of your wristwatch actually is a morse code and the machine tries to talk to you, Donghyuck doesn't remember a lot of the points he was trying to make in his paper.)

Promising himself that he would wake up from a thirty minutes power nap after a night out on a Thursday, to be able to go to his 8 A.M. class on Friday – what did he even think of when he applied to it? As Mark had bet on, between giggles and squishy hugs (because when Mark is drunk he tends to become an affectionate guy, that he refuses to acknowledge when he doesn't have alcohol in his system), Donghyuck had crashed on his bed for the whole morning, not even waking up to his hopeful yet really pitiful alarm.

He remembers the rays of sunshine woke him up, a little warmness on his skin, that made him scrunch his nose because of the discomfort, and then nausea made him regret even being conscious. Mark came later with a smirk and his (below average) cooking skills to try to save his best friend from further agony.

(Mark is someone from another planet, Donghyuck thinks. Mark has been as smashed as him, yet he's looked fresh as hell, because Mark has developed a really impressive habit that is that his body doesn't follow the law of life, despite the extra-curricular shits he takes all the time. Mark always looks like he had eight hours of sleep – and boy does he not. Mark is the busiest of all the busy students Donghyuck knows, and he himself is quite busy between all his clubs and classes. They are quite the pair of best friends, huh.)

So, Donghyuck likes to take risks. And one of the risks can be, for example, to count again and again the change he has in his winter jacket that he has long forgotten at the bottom of his drawers, because it's now april and the weather is good, and extracted again from the abyss. Finding a crumpled bill in a pocket feels like he's on top of the world, and he thanks past Donghyuck to leave him this little unexpected treasure.

Donghyuck has calculated that with all the money he's scraped around in his wallet and under his desk – with also the few coins he's kept the last time he got drinks using Mark's wallet – he has exactly the amount he needs to order a pizza at the parlor near campus. Donghyuck knows he shouldn't blow away the little money he has, because then he'll need to survive off what's ridiculously left in his pantry, but he also knows that he wants a pizza, he likes to take risks, and he's paid next week, so he'll manage to get around. Skipping dinner and eating half of Yukhei's sandwich when he's too enamoured to look at his girlfriend to notice Donghyuck is stealing his food will be as good enough of a plan as it can be.

Donghyuck can manage; and Donghyuck truly thinks he deserves this pizza with extra cheese and the right amount of pepperoni. It's just that he got an annoying day, he's trying to procrastinate on the paper due this week-end, and just, he's craving pizza, let him be a normal university student trying to avoid reality by drowning his doubts in greasy food.

Ok, it's not supposed to be this dramatic, it's just a pizza, but Mark has said enough time that Donghyuck is dramatic, more dramatic than any greek theater play he happened to have read (maybe from an extra class Donghyuck had no idea he's taken), so Donghyuck wants to live up to this. Not gonna disappoint the plebeian.

He's filling the form on his phone, asking for the right topping and size, to get the perfect pizza that will be his date for the night. And just before getting to the prefered payment method, he notices the little square where the pizza parlor kindly asks if he has any additional notes, so they could fulfill his order to the best of their capacities.

And Donghyuck also is someone that likes to have fun, sometimes, and he doesn't see he has anything to lose anymore, so he doesn't think long before deciding to write down _"send your cutest delivery guy ;)"_ (yes, with the winky smiley). He laughs at this, because your own self is the one who should make you laugh the best, and then sends his form. He quickly gets a notification back, confirming his order with a summary, and his wink smiley winks back at him again.

Now he just has to wait around thirty minutes, and he decides that it's the right amount of time to watch an episode of Detective Conan. (Since he's a kid, he's been waiting for that moment where Ran and Shinichi finally, finally get together. You bet that even if he hasn't read any chapter of the manga once he left middle school, he's caught up pretty fast on the whole saga that holds a special place in his heart the moment he saw a random tweet screaming about how Ran and Shinichi officialized their couple. Donghyuck is a sucker for that, and he didn't know his heart would beat as fast as when he was cheeky little twelve year old Donghyuck, even after ten years.)

(Once, Mark dressed up as Conan for a costume party, and maybe Donghyuck's heart skipped a beat or two, but Mark will never know that. Jaemin was perfect too, dressed as Kaito, all in white. Donghyuck wonders if he has something about fictional Japanese characters. Probably.)

With all his feelings for a 2D character, the time flies, and soon enough someone is knocking at Donghyuck's door, and it brings him back to reality, his groaning stomach, and the fact that he actually dared to ask for a cute delivery guy. Honestly, he doesn't expect much from it, so it's quite with only his cheesy pizza in mind that he goes to his door, scratching his tummy through his old pyjama oversized tee, barefoot, and with too many coins in his pocket, that he goes to open the door.

And boy is that a cutie that is standing in front of him.

Donghyuck is a bit taken aback, in that weird state you can get when you weren't expecting to get sudden visual interest – in Donghyuck's case, the person that is simply here to give him his ordered pizza. Sure, he's written that he wanted their cutest delivery guy, but... but that only work in a movie, or a bad 18+ video.

The delivery guy tilts his head, and something under his eyes shines. Donghyuck almost chokes on nothing. Is that– is that a fucking anti eyebrow piercing he's sporting?

Cheek piercing guy slash cute pizza delivery boy slash potential Donghyuck's early death opens his mouth to ask monotonously:

“Large traditional pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni, for Lee Donghyuck?”

And that's when Donghyuck realizes that, he's maybe asked for a cute delivery guy, but he also has approximately less than a minute to make a good impression on said guy – even if it wasn't his attention at first, listen, he's just put that additional note as a joke and the heavens (or hell, or whatever on earth) thought that, hey, maybe we can do something nice for this little dude, even if he's annoying, and have sent him a really cute guy. Like really cute but also with that hint of dangerous aura, like he'd explode in a matter of second if Donghyuck said the wrong thing.

Donghyuck loves making people explode. It's like, his default character trait. There's not a day he'll not try to rile up Mark, because Mark is funny when he whines. Maybe now he'd like to punch a few of this guy's button, if he has the time.

“You're not Lee Donghyuck?” the guy asks, when he doesn't get any reply.

Dammit, Donghyuck, you can do better than that. (It's just a pity he has his old pyjama tee. At least his hair is soft and striking a little bit of violet ends that complements his face.)

“Sorry. Yes, it's me,” a quick glance at the guy required work jacket where a tagname is pinned, “Renjun,” he purrs.

Renjun's stare doesn't soften nor show any surprise; better, it darkens, because Renjun frowns, and this stare coupled with the two little gems under his eyes – Donghyuck didn't know he could be weak because of a piercing, but here he is, learning something knew about himself – it truly is a sight to behold.

“It'll be 14,550 wons, please,” Renjun ignores Donghyuck.

“Say, your name doesn't sound Korean–” Donghyuck asks, after he nods and gets some coins from his pocket, counting, but Renjun cuts him.

“You can just give me the money silently and I'll give you your pizza.”

He sounds annoyed, not the really good kind, but Donghyuck also has zero sense of self preservation – refer to: every time he thinks of challenging Johnny with shots of vodka – so he asks:

“Bad day?”

“Yeah, and it sure doesn't get better with you and your obnoxious note of asking for the cutest delivery guy. What do you think, that the pizza parlor is your Tinder or something? My younger colleague was so freaked out because he wondered if he was cute enough for the request and– ok that's half dumb half cute but he's too innocent for predators like you– shit, I should learn when to shut up.”

Donghyuck is really finding Renjun endearing right now, but maybe he wouldn't appreciate it if he says it out loud.

“Anyway, it's been a long day and just get your pizza, please. Next time, you could even order from our concurrents, with how low I'm paid at this job I don't even care if they lose clients.”

“So you mean you're _not_ the cutest boy working there?”

Renjun looks at him with a deadpan stare.

“I– don't even know if it's supposed to be an insult or a compliment. Donghyuck, I don't know if you need to hear it in Chinese too, but I'm ready to choke you if you try something even remotely weird, so please. Give me the money.”

Donghyuck would joke on how Renjun's last sentence can totally be out of a gangster movie, but he doesn't really like to surf on the wave that Renjun potentially thinks he is that kind of creepy guy. Granted, maybe doing the joke in the first place wasn't that clever, but he thought it was light hearted enough... right?

“I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, it wasn't my attention.”

Donghyuck, despite what people thinks of him at first, _can_ read a mood, and doesn't want to make anyone distressed.

Renjun sighs, and shifts his weight on his left foot, pizza box against his waist, finally giving him a – tired – smile.

“14,550 wons, you said?” Donghyuck continues, because obviously the situation isn't in flirt mode anymore.

(Donghyuck still is curious about Renjun, though. There's this something about him in the few sentences they exchanged, that unveiled a bit of one of Renjun's facets. Donghyuck can make friends easily, because he's attracted to these little details others show, that can be subtle but that Donghyuck is a master at noticing.)

Donghyuck, however, is a bit clumsy with the number of coins he has in his pocket, between crumpled bills that he tries to flatten to give them properly to Renjun – he hopes he won't be too annoyed to have so much change, but it's the only way Donghyuck can pay for his pizza, with his student budget and his sudden crave for it.

Coins fall on the floor, without surprise, when he takes more out of his pocket, resonating between Renjun and him, rolling around in an awkward dance that the both of them admire, time suspending for a millisecond.

“Shit, sorry,” Donghyuck says, and he bends down to get the multitude of coins off the floor.

To his surprise, Renjun kneels as well, pizza in one hand while the other picks up the cash. In the middle of the mess, there are Donghyuck's keys dangling at a flashy handmade keychain Jisung and Chenle gave him for Christmas, that he loves a lot but would never admit. There is a picture of the three of them, where he's squished between Jisung's tall figure and Chenle's cute face.

Renjun's eyes stop on the keychain, and Donghyuck then notices the surprised stare that is the most positive reaction he showed since he's opened the door. Renjun picks up the keychain and it's in front of his face; Donghyuck sees him squinting, which is _cute_.

“You're a friend of Chenle and Jisung?” Renjun asks.

“Yes!” Donghyuck replies, a bit taken aback.

“That's the keychain they made for last Christmas, right? Damn, I didn't know they put so much effort to make them for everyone.”

Donghyuck wasn't expecting to be linked to Renjun that way; Chenle and Jisung are freshmen that he likes to tease and he knows he would do anything for them. He doesn't see them as often as he'd like but they are for sure close to him. And if Renjun knows them too, to the point he got a friendship keychain too, then he's also really close to them.

It's like a bulb lights up above Renjun's head.

“Oh my god, you're _that Hyuckie hyung_?”

Donghyuck feels half touched that these two little rascals talk about him with such affection, and half embarrassed, because what did they say about him.

(Donghyuck thinks he shouldn't feel flustered, he's proud of who he is! … but really, what does Renjun know about him? He himself doesn't remember the freshmen talking about any Renjun.)

“I guess I am.”

Renjun hums, stealing a few more glances at him while picking up more coins after he gave him back his keychain. Donghyuck is slightly confused by Renjun's behaviour, because he doesn't comment further after his revelation that they have common friends.

“Am I that much of a phenomena that you don't want to tell me what Chenle and Jisung said about me?” Donghyuck finally asks, curiosity taking over – and also the desire to still talk to Renjun, to hear his voice and actually have a conversation that can lead somewhere.

Renjun chuckles, “it's okay, they just talk about how loud and annoying you are. Which I can understand, now,” he adds with another laugh, and Donghyuck gasps.

“I can't believe you! I am the most delightful person to be with!”

Renjun arches an eyebrow – it balances his anti eyebrow piercing, _no Donghyuck please focus now_.

“Should I remind you that so far the first impression I have of you was that you ask for a cute delivery guy without shame?”

“Hey! It was a joke! And actually, your first impression is what Jisung and Chenle told you!”

“Not sure it's better though?”

“You're messing with me,” Donghyuck pouts.

They have finally got all the coins he's dropped, but they both are focused on their conversation.

“Oh, so we're already close enough for you to understand my teasing?”

Something glints in Renjun's eyes. Donghyuck is kinda entranced. The way they talk together is like a match of table tennis, and he's not sure they make that much sense, but it's enthralling and he's excited. He can totally see himself getting into bigger word jousts with Renjun, to get that spark of adrenaline and fondness that he chases.

( _The piercing, Donghyuck, the piercing is messing with your brain_ , his thoughts supply. He internally replies to himself, _But you have to admit it's a really hot piercing on a really hot boy_. And his brain to answer, _What happened to “cute” delivery guy?_

Gosh, Donghyuck should be more concerned about his inner debates sometimes.)

Donghyuck's own flustered state makes him miss how rosy Renjun's cheeks have become.

When Renjun shows his open palm with Donghyuck's change, he's reminded that they are actually talking because Renjun is supposed to deliver him his pizza. He quickly counts the rest of the coins and drops them into Renjun's hands – there's a few more wons than needed, but it's Renjun's tip. (If he could, Donghyuck would leave him a bigger one, but he's poor at the moment, so he tells himself he'll treat Renjun to a good coffee shop later for their first date.

… that is, if they actually have one. But it could be, right?)

“Maybe I'm holding you up, you're still at work after all.”

Renjun takes the money and exchanges it with the pizza, that Donghyuck grips in both his hands. The carton is large, so their fingers don't brush by inadvertance. That's disappointing.

“Don't worry, you were my last delivery. I just need to go back to the shop and clock out now.”

“So you'd actually have time to catch on some Detective Conan with me and a pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni?” Donghyuck blurts out.

Renjun is silent for a second, and Donghyuck wonders if he's gone too far, but Renjun finally replies:

“Not the best fan of Detective Conan, to be honest.”

Donghyuck inhales calmly. He can totally make Renjun understand how hot Shinichi's brain is. Renjun is probably into hot brains, right? Is Donghyuck a hot brain, too?

“That's a conversation we need to have later, I can't let you say that nonchalantly. But hey, maybe watching anything you'd like instead?” He doesn't accept defeat.

“Maybe next time, _Hyuck_ ,” Renjun winks ( _winks!!!_ Donghyuck's brain repeats, with much needed three exclamation marks), “I've actually looked for someone to watch Moomin with me, because Chenle finds it ridiculous that I like this character so much even if I haven't watched a single episode.”

The piercing on Renjun's cheek shines, just like his eyes, and Donghyuck might be smitten already – as if he hasn't been for the past five minutes or so – to the point he's willing to watch that Moomin cartoon that he knows nothing about for hours if it means Renjun is by his side.

Renjun leaves him to his pizza with a little wave (Donghyuck replies in a daze), going down the stairs with bouncy steps that makes Donghyuck smile when he hears them echoing in the corridor.

(Yup, totally smitten, he confirms, when later in the week, he actually runs into Renjun between classes, and Renjun has half a shy smile before he goes back to his nonchalant façade.

Donghyuck likes to take risks; his next risky move should perhaps be to properly woo Renjun.)

**Author's Note:**

> happy (belated) birthday to me i guess! this was supposed to be up yesterday but i apparently also procrastinate on my own gift lol
> 
> hope you liked it! <3
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/_renjunbaobei) \+ [cc](https://curiouscat.me/jeolmeoniji)


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